Akatsuki Knights
by BrandNewOrange
Summary: A king, A queen, six knights, a jester and a wizard. They're the Akatsuki of Camelot and they're on a quest. Some love, some adventure, and a little bit of silliness for good measure.
1. Chapter 1

I began writing this a few weeks back. I was inspired as I'd been to Camelot for the day. I absolutely love Camelot. For anyone not from the UK that reads my trash, Camelot is a theme park. It's in the north of England, not far from where I live and is somewhere my sister and I, and our friends go to every summer. The theme is like the Knights of the Round Table (obviously with a name like Camelot) and they hold ridiculous things like jousting tournaments there. So anyway, we went there for the day a few weeks ago and I thought to myself I'd love to do an Akatsuki story about this. So here's the start of it. I hope it's not too terrible.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, the Akatsuki, or Camelot.

* * *

The king sighed unhappily as he surveyed his knights. Would it be so hard for the six of them to get along? That was his purpose for this jousting tournament he was holding. He hoped it would raise their morale, unite them, and help them appreciate the skills of the other knights. But no, it had only served to fuel their hopeless competitiveness.

His queen touched his arm gently, smiling kindly at him.

"It'll be alright dear," she assured him, "just watch the entertainment for now,"

The entertainment. Ah yes, there was entertainment in abundance today, especially when the yellow knight had set fire to the black knight's breeches. However his queen was referring to a different kind of entertainment.

The court jester was an odd man. The king didn't know if he actually acted like a child or if he was seriously that way. Right now he was attempting to make model animals for everyone. He could hear the wizard to his left sniggering at the jester's efforts.

The yellow knight looked particularly disgusted at the jester's efforts. It was no wonder though; he had been presented with what appeared to be a heart and a bunch of fake flowers. His partner in crime, the purple knight found it hilarious.

The black and the green knights were throwing their food at the jester, staining his pitiful orange uniform. They were angry at the entire tournament, so far neither of them had won a thing, and they were going to let everyone else know they were bitter about it.

The blue knight and the red knight on the other hand, were handling everything with a calm dignity, just like they always did. So far they were winning most of the competitions today, despite the black knight's accusations they were cheating.

It was true; the blue and red knights were favourites of the king. Although, that was mainly as they caused him much less trouble than the other four knights. The king pulled a face as the jester finished his show. Somewhere along the way one of the others had thought it appropriate to remove the poor boy's pants.

Trying to ignore the boy sobbing loudly into his wizard's cloak the king stood again, taking his queen's hand in one of his own.

"Lords," he shouted, "ladies, and knights of my round table! We shall now begin the final activities of the day. It is the final of our jousting tournament, blue knight Kisame, and red knight Itachi, please ready your horses." The two knights spurred their horsed to either end of the jousting fence, lances handed to them by nameless squires.

The yellow knight turned to his partner disinterested.

"Well Sasori, it is obvious what will happen here, un?" he spoke lazily leaning forward to pat his white stallion on its head.

"You never know Deidara," the purple knight replied, "he might not let him win,"

"Yeah and the black knight isn't in the closet, master Sasori. We both know old bluey there is going to bow out right after this begins." The yellow knight leant back in his saddle. The purple knight turned to him, lifting his visor slightly. There was a puzzled expression on his face.

"You think Hidan is gay?"

"Oh come on Sasori, have you seen the way he follows greeny around, un?" Deidara snorted, and forcefully shut his partner's visor. The pair of them silenced and went back to watching the joust. It did appear that the blue knight may just give up.

They were all used to this behaviour. Blue knight Kisame was fiercely loyal to red knight Itachi. Several times today he'd allowed the much smaller knight to beat him in the events. The others often speculated as to why this might be, as he would resort to using brute force with the rest of them.

And then it happened. Kisame knocked Itachi off his mount. From the look on his face as he lifted his visor it was clear he hadn't meant too. shutting his visor quickly the hulking knight selected a large broadsword from the squires and went to the one on one battle portion of the fight. Itachi had his own weapon, a quarterstaff in one hand, and a shield with his crest on in the other. The pair of them wasted no time in getting down to the duel.

Normally none of them could best Kisame with a sword. The man was simply a master, but Itachi really was laying into him. Deciding he'd had enough of watching the blue knight hold back, the black knight, Hidan jumped from his steed and grabbed his weapon of choice, a scythe. He was closely followed by the green knight, who went by the name of Kakuzu. Kakuzu's morningstar slammed hard against the shield of the red knight, and the remaining two decided they'd join in the mêlée. Deidara whipped out his flail and began happily spinning it around his head. He aimed straight for the black knight. Sasori had a flail of his own, but his consisted of multiple chains, without the weighted ball on the end. He used it merely to protect himself from the other knights; he was more suited to long distance fighting.

From his seat the king was groaning in despair. The queen looked at him, slightly amused, as he began to bang his head on the wooden fence in front of him.

"Calm down dear," she comforted, "you'll dent your crown if you keep that up,"


	2. Chapter 2

Thought I'd upload chapter two while I was at it. I'm wondering if people will like this though. I don't really have a plan like I have with other stories for this one, just a vague idea where I want to go, so it would be nice to know what people think, please? Personally I like the idea, which I suppose is a decent enough reason to keep going, that and I like the idea of the Akatsuki dressed as knights. :)

**Disclaimer**:I don't own Naruto, the Akatsuki, or Camelot,

* * *

The evening feast was in full swing. The king was finally happy, there was nothing like a grand feast to help him forget the day's troubles. After the farce of the jousting tournament, the knights had all been separated into their two man teams and seated at separate tables.

He began to munch on a particularly succulent chicken leg, and watched the three teams keenly. After all the fuss he'd declared the wizard the winner of the tournament, seeing as he was the only body able to step in and stop their brawling. As usual, said wizard was seated to his right now, and the queen was to his left.

The jester was sat at his own table, a low thing, placed directly in front of the main table. He'd asked the wizard once why he had to sit like this, only to be shushed and told to be a good boy. Wanting to please he'd shut up and taken his comically undersized seat.

Directly across from the king's table was that of the black and green knight. They were seated next to each other, much to the green knight's disgust. The black knight was engaged in an embarrassing conversation with one of the ladies seated with them. His language was appalling, and Kakuzu despised its use in front of the females. Every now and then he would try to say something about it, only to be met with a tirade of abuse. Hidan merely speculated that Kakuzu was jealous of his success with the ladies, after all, the green knight was the oldest at the courts, and bore many horrific battle scars.

The yellow and purple knights occupied the table to the king's left. They'd been seated with the many artisans of the king's court, and were currently flourishing in this environment. The pair of them were avid collectors and creators of art themselves, and wasted no opportunity to discuss it with others. Of course, they were now engaged in one of their typical arguments on the subject. The yellow knight defending against tapestry workers, while the purple knight claimed it was the sport of young females and therefore his partner was well suited to the task.

The king ignored that, he knew it wouldn't turn into a fight on such a scale as the one earlier. They were all used to the little spats between the yellow and purple knight. He instead regarded the final table, the one to the right. It had been a good idea to seat his guests from the neighbouring kingdom with the blue and red knight. The pair were acting as perfect gentlemen. Although, he did wish the red knight was a little more animated. Surely he noticed all those women swooning over him, could he not at least dignify them with a smile? The blue knight roared with laughter at a joke one of the other nobles had told him, clapping the man on the back roughly.

"I told you it would be alright," spoke a soft voice next to him. He turned to the queen. She was daintily picking at some fruit, eating tiny morsels every now and then. He nodded. She was often right. He often wondered how the woman managed to put up with the knights, wizard and jester and still remain such a calm personality. He was glad that she did though, the rest of them drove him crazy.

The king was brought out of his thoughts as the doors to the great hall burst open with an echoing boom. Everybody eating stopped and stared at the young boy who came running in.

"Sire sire! I bring news from the lake. 'Tis an emergency sire!" the boy panted, jogging over to the king with a scroll. The king took the proffered item from the boy and handed him some food. Waving the young squire away he broke the wax seal on the parchment and unrolled it.

The queen scanned the document over his shoulder and turned to the squire.

"The lake is a good day's ride away for an experienced rider child, have you come all that way?" she scrutinised.

"No your highness, I live in the village, one of the master's birds brought this in just now," the boy bowed his head, overwhelmed with awe at speaking to the queen.

Deidara and Sasori had stood and made their way over from their table. The squire was one from their house in the village, and Deidara had heard mention of his birds. Likewise at hearing there was trouble on the lake Kisame had made his way over, he originated from the waterside and was concerned.

"Brat, how could one of your birds carry this message?" Sasori asked, "You told me they were all secured before we left for the tournament,"

Deidara shrugged, "I don't know, you know what the lady is like, perhaps it was her doing, un" he answered his partner before turning to the messenger. "which bird brought this in?"

"'Twas the goshawk sir, Iwa," the boy replied dutifully. Deidara nodded, happy with this answer.

"The message is definitely from the lake Sasori," the king told the purple knight. Sasori nodded in acceptance at this, but did not reply. Kisame took his turn to speak.

"What does it say? What has happened at the lake?"

"Calm yourself Kisame," the queen put a hand on his shoulder, "we have just received a call for aid from the lady, we do not know what has occurred,"

"Men," the king turned to the entire hall and raised his voice, "prepare your horses and equipment, we ride to the lake in one hour,"

There was a flurry of activity as those present began to prepare themselves for the quest to the lake. Hidan, the black knight, practically leapt from his chair, and dashed outside to ready his steed. The green knight followed him, grumbling as he went. The other knights followed the pair to the stables, and mounted their own horses. They all had their own homes within the village and would need to visit them in order to gather their equipment.

The queen scurried after the knights, halting the yellow and purple before they could leave the gates. She had something in her hands.

"Sir knight, please ensure this message is returned to the lady? It will inform her that we are coming to her aid," the queen handed Sasori a scrap if parchment. The purple knight nodded his head, while his partner reached over him.

"of course we will send it my queen, un" he stated with a flourish, winking at her as he did so. The queen giggled at the knight, who'd earned himself a smack around the head from his partner.

"cut that out you brat, the queen doesn't need you fooling around like that now," scowled Sasori. The pair began to ride off, starting up their arguing.

"Which bird are you sending anyway?"

"I was thinking about Hiruko, he's our fastest,"

"No way, Hiruko is my hawk,"

"Aww, but master!"

The queen could hear them bickering as they crossed the drawbridge and vanished down the dust track to the village.

Following close behind them went the red and the blue knight. Their own conversation was much less subdued. Itachi gently leading his horse to go side by side with his partner before speaking.

"Kisame, will you be alright at the lake?" he was concerned.

"I'll be fine Itachi. Let's just head home and prepare alright?" the blue knight responded. Itachi silently acknowledged the answer and the pair trotted onwards in silence. The queen paced the courtyard and watched as each of the knights rode down the hill that lead to the castle. She could make out the colours of each knight even in the dark and watched as each one snaked its way through the streets to their homes. The king arrived at her side, and place and arm around her resting his hand on her hip. Neither turned away until the shape of a bird took off from the outermost house in the village. Seeing this they made their way back indoors.

The queen looked at her king's attire, and noticed the weapon he had chosen.

"Excalibur my lord?"

"The lady would be offended if we showed up without it," he answered bluntly. The pair walked through the castle back to the great hall. The wizard and the jester were waiting patiently for them, the jester still squashed into his tiny chair.

"Tobi get out of that thing, you don't always have to keep up the act," the king told the orange clad one.

"Sorry your majesty, Tobi just wanted to be-"

"Yes a good boy, we know," the king was visibly annoyed with something. He began to discuss a plan for the journey with the wizard and the queen turned away. She headed to her room in a hurry to gather her own belongings. After seeing the king this way she'd decided, she'd be going on the journey to the lake as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Yay, updating this story too! I know this isn't very funny yet, but I am working on it. I want it to be more of an adventure type story. In this short chapter, the group makes it to the lake, but what will happen next?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, the Akatsuki, Camelot, or a lake.

* * *

"Why did they have to tag along? Seriously, they're going to slow us the fuck down Kakuzu," Hidan, the black knight grumbled under his breath. The green knight turned to him, and frowned.

"It's not like we're going anywhere right now," he pointed out to his partner, "besides you know as well as I do that the wizard will be useful. I've heard the queen is a rather good fighter too. The fool I have no idea."

"Little shit probably didn't want to stay at the castle on his own," Hidan scoffed.

They'd ridden until there was almost no light left, and set up camp quickly before the darkness consumed them. The king had decided they would rest here, and as soon as light began to hit they would leave for the lake once more. The blue and red knight had fallen asleep, wishing to conserve energy. The yellow knight and purple knight were sat across from them, deep in a conversation of their own. The jester, having followed them all on a donkey was curled up, dozing at the wizard's feet. The wizard was staring into the fire, he appeared to be mumbling to himself. The king and queen were sat apart from everyone else. They were having a fight about something. Probably about the fact that the king hadn't wanted the queen to come with them.

Kakuzu stood, informing Hidan he was going to sleep, and that he probably should too. Hidan shrugged, ignoring the other man's advice. Kakuzu sighed, his partner could be stubborn sometimes. Walking a little way off he began to set up his bed roll and lay down for the night.

Hidan continued to watch the other members of their party. He wasn't too concerned with the emergency at the lake. He knew it was some important place, but it never really bothered him. So long as he got to fight, he was happy. Fighting was why he had trained to become a knight in the first place, he never imagined he'd be accepted into the king's court.

The other knights didn't know much about him, and he intended to keep it that way. When he thought about it, he didn't know all that much about the rest of them. All he knew was that they came from towns and cities all over the land to be a part of the round table at Camelot. He knew Sasori and Deidara were the only two native to the village, and that Kisame once lived by the lake. And he also knew that the king and queen were from the south, where it rained a lot. He himself had been raised much further away, hence his apprehension at being accepted.

The rest of the journey to the lake remained uneventful, aside from when the yellow knight purposely led the jester through a deep bank of mud, causing his donkey to throw him off. The poor boy was covered head to toe in filth, and you could barely make out the orange of his uniform.

This hadn't gone without punishment of course, both the wizard and the purple knight had cast the blonde into the muck themselves. The king wished they hadn't, for know the blonde was constantly complaining about his hair. Honestly, they were like a bunch of kids sometimes.

The queen patted his shoulder as she rode past him. The fact that these were his most elite warriors was somewhat laughable. All they did was squabble and torment each other. It was a good job she had decided to come along with them, as clearly the others would be quite useless in an emergency.

* * *

They finally passed through the lake village at some point after lunch, and paused as they reached the lakeside. Everything appeared quiet.

"I thought there was some sort of emergency, un?" spoke Deidara, dismounting from his chestnut coloured horse and peering around the landscape. "where is Hiruko?"

"Never mind the bird brat, where's the emergency?" Sasori appeared by his side. The others began to scan the horizon, apart from Zetsu the magician. The wizard had dismounted his own horse and walked to the side of the lake. He peered into the water and began to prod it with his staff. Kisame on the other hand had walked over to a rock face and was staring at it as if trying to remember something.

A loud splash caused them all to look intently at Zetsu. Or where Zetsu had been stood mere seconds ago. They all jumped back, as the wizard rose from the spot he been knocked to and let a bolt of green lightning flash forth from his staff.

Before any of them realised what was happening a youth with white hair was relentlessly attacking Zetsu, he held a sword in one hand, and staff in the other. The pair duelled viciously, water and lightning flying through the air.

Hurriedly the other knights brought out their weapons, Deidara readied a rock in his sling, while Sasori notched an arrow in his longbow. The king and Kakuzu had pulled out their crossbows while Itachi help up several throwing knives. They all aimed directly for the white haired boy, but because of the fast pace of the battle, none could lock onto their target.

It was Kisame who stopped the fight, shaking his head and calling out to the pair.

"Suigetsu, that's no way to treat your family," Kisame unsheathed his own sword and brandished it at the youth.

"Bro?" asked the white haired boy stopping the fight. He gave the blue knight a puzzled look before running over and hugging the huge knight happily. "It is you!"

The other knights stared at them incredulously. Kisame had a brother? And wasn't the lady of the lake supposed to be, well, a lady?


	4. Chapter 4

Orange is an enspired little fruit this week, so without further ado, the fourth chapter of Akatsuki Knights. In this chapter we learn just who their attacker at the lake is.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, the Akatsuki, Camelot, King Arthur or a spiffy wizard's staff.

* * *

The knights were staring at Kisame and his apparent brother on the shore of the lake. The blue knight motioned for them all to lower their weapons, which they did, albeit reluctantly.

"Sorry about that bro, but you know he's not supposed to come here," the white haired boy indicated Zetsu with distaste. "and you know that too, so I'll thank you to stay here when we go inside," he told the wizard. Zetsu nodded and went to seat himself under a tree.

"What the hell is going on?" interrupted the king, walking over to the young water sorcerer. "we got a call for emergency from the lady of the lake, where is she?"

"Emergency?" the boy was taken aback, "ma's in Avalon, collecting a new sword, she's not sent me any messages."

The other five knights stood in a semi circle looking at the king and blue knight addressing the boy.

"Is anyone else confused here?" asked Sasori, his face looked blank, but Deidara could tell by his tone that the older knight was amused.

"Did you know that Kisame was abandoned by the lakeside as a child?" asked Itachi. He was scratching his chin elegantly with one hand, his eyes remained on the king.

"I didn't" Hidan admitted. Itachi nodded and continued.

"I'm not sure why he attacked us, but that is the lady of the lake's son, Kisame's adoptive brother Suigetsu. The lady raised them both here at the lake, teaching Kisame the ways of the knight and Suigetsu to follow after her in sorcery. The purpose of the lake is to guard the great swords and its sorcerers are to guard them and the king by any means." The black haired man finished speaking. It appeared as though Kisame was waving them over. Everyone but the wizard obeyed.

"We're going to be going into my old home in a minute, Suigetsu just has to return his sword," the blue knight explained. They all noticed the white haired brother had seemingly walked on the surface of the water to the centre of the lake. There was a tiny island there, into which he forced the blade he was holding. They were stunned as his figure disappeared, and then rose from the lakeside in front of them once more.

"So, Kisame, you remember where it is?" the younger one beamed. The blue knight shook his head.

"I remember it being in the rock face but it's not responding to me anymore. The charm on it is a good one." Kisame replied to his brother. Suigetsu raised his staff, the blue jewel stuck on its end glowed and a cave appeared before them. A dank set of steps led downwards, as if to go under the lake. The mouth of the cave was dripping with water. He relaxed and slung the staff over his shoulder lazily, leading the way into the passage. Seeing Kisame and Itachi follow the young sorcerer the king, queen and other knights followed.

"Hey Tobi," called Deidara turning back, "aren't you coming with, un?"

The jester shook his head, the bells on his hat tinkled merrily. "I'm going to stay out here with Mr. Zetsu, we'll see you guys later!" he bounced over to the wizard with enthusiasm. Deidara felt a tug on his arm, and looked to see Sasori staring at him, eyebrow quirked upwards.

"Don't keep us all waiting brat," he scolded

"Sorry master Sasori," apologised the yellow knight, striding to keep up with the purple knight.

The passage way did indeed lead underneath the lake. After a dark and winding stairway, light began to sparkle over them. The king's party looked upwards in awe to see the rippling sway of the lake water above them. Every few seconds a small droplet of water would escape through the enchanted barrier and splash onto the floor behind them. The king and queen were mesmerised, seeing the weeds of the lake waving about them magically, and even fish passed by extremely closely and unfazed by what was happening. Their footsteps echoed as they trotted along behind the boy of the lake in silence.

Soon they came to an ancient doorway. There was a grand mural carved into the dark wood of the door. Looking closely they could see it had been set with the same sparkling stones that were in the staff of Suigetsu. They all began to pulse with light, as the huge doorway opened and the group found themselves within a hallway. Before them was a set of stairs, leading to a red door. Either side of them were two more doors. Making that a total of five. Suigetsu led them off to the second door on the right, and out into a place where a large fireplace dominated the room.

"Sit down," the boy invited them, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

* * *

Up on the shores of the lake Tobi was trying to entertain Zetsu. He was juggling for the man. Zetsu didn't know if Tobi was a lousy fool, or if he was doing this on purpose. So far, the young boy could only juggled two balls successfully, though he was attempting to juggle six. And now, oh dear lord, he was trying to set them on fire.

He struggled to suppress a chuckle as several of the balls fell, one of them, luckily not one on fire, bounced of the boy's head. Staring at his feet, Zetsu saw that his robe had caught alight. He tilted his staff towards it, allowing the yellow and green gem in it to glow, and water poured from its tip, extinguishing the flames.

"It was a good effort Tobi," he commended, "**certainly entertaining. But you don't have to work for us now**,"

Tobi had always found this strange about the wizard. Sometimes it was as though he was two people trapped within the same body. Shrugging off what the wizard had said the orange clad jester began to dance around their makeshift camp, feeding the horses and donkey as he did so. Zetsu sighed and stared at the rock. It could be hours before the king emerged, and he was anxious about the seeming lack of emergency.

He had recognised the lady's magic the previous evening, and he knew she really had called a distress signal. So then why did her son not know what was happening and claim she was in Avalon? Was this a trap? He somehow doubted it, there was no reason for the boy to lie to his brother. And he couldn't go on ahead to Avalon on his own for two reasons. The first being Avalon was the resting place of the dead, only the lady of the lake was allowed to set foot there while alive. Secondly he was forbidden from seeking out the lady of the lake on his own. He could take the jester, but they didn't call jesters fools for no reason.

Zetsu sighed. He did not like this situation at all.


	5. Chapter 5

I finally updated. And I hate this chapter. Ii've re-written it so many times I just went for it this time. Sorry it took so long. I was a little concerned with finishing another story, and had a lot of other things going on too. I won't give up on this, I do have pretty much the whole story planned out, I'm just going to be a bit slower with it than other things. Hope you enjoy  
Orange

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or the Akatsuki

* * *

"Kisame, is this you?" Hidan asked, pointing at a large portrait hanging on the wall. Kisame nodded. Obviously it was him, but unlike the other knights he actually tried to keep things civil and get on with people. There were many portraits and tapestries in this room. All depicting various prophecies of the lady, or pictures of her family. Suigetsu had not yet returned and the others were all gazing at what was clearly an enchanted room.

The king, Sasori and Deidara were staring at the window.

"Kisame, shouldn't there be another room on the other side of this wall?" asked the king, brows furrowed.

"Yes your highness. Perhaps in your castle that would be the case. However the lake house is governed by magic. You know I'd almost forgotten about this window, I never really noticed it when I lived here," the blue knight sat himself in the largest seat of the room, taking off his battle equipment and putting his booted feet up in front of him.

This was always the room in which guests were entertained. The window was huge, making up the entire wall, and placed where another room should belong. Above the fireplace was the biggest portrait of all, his mothers. She was seated on a rock, long red hair flowing out behind her, a staff similar to his brother's in her hands. The two portraits either side of it were of two of his brothers. He had a great number of brothers, the lady was millennia old, and had adopted many sons into her home, he and Suigetsu were just the youngest two. He was suspicious however the white haired boy was his mother's favourite. His picture hung alongside hers to the right, while another brother's image, Sai, hung to its left. These two had both followed her into magic, and while Sai had gone off to train with their aunt at the loch, Suigetsu remained here.

Each of his brothers' portraits hung above their own suit of arms, and they all looked to be gazing intently at the inhabitants of the room. His own picture, the one Hidan had pointed out was one of the biggest, his brothers Zabuza and Chojuro were hung either side of him. He wondered what they were up to now, they'd gone their separate ways to travel the earth. He noticed Konan was staring intently up at his mother's image, when Suigetsu re-entered the room. He was carrying a stack of goblets and plates. He set them all down on the table, where food and drink appeared on them. He'd clearly enchanted them to make his task easier.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" the white haired boy asked, strolling over to the fireplace. He reached up with his staff to light two large pillar candles above the portrait. Konan nodded.

"Yes, I would hardly believe her age,"

"As much as I hate badmouthing ma, she is a sorceress, my lady," he bowed slightly and handed her a goblet, it was filled with sweet wine.

"Sui, are you sure ma's in Avalon?" Kisame called out from the other side of the room. Suigetsu sat down and lazily sprawled across a chair of his own. He drank deeply from his goblet before replying.

"She should be bro; it's the only place to get legendary swords, y'know"

"I am aware. But why else would we have gotten a distress call?" Kisame returned.

"Speaking of which," Deidara began, "is my hawk around, un? If you got our reply I can send him on home." The blonde glanced around the room as if the hawk would appear from thin air.

"Do you mean the weird old bird that came last night with paper on it?" Suigetsu asked. He sounded nervous.

"Yes, un!" the yellow knight beamed, "is he okay?"

"Well, uh. I haven't seen it since last night. I'm sure he'll turn up!" the white haired boy scratched his head and abruptly ended the conversation. Deidara looked at him puzzled but let it slide. "why don't you all stay the night, ma should be back by the morning!"The young sorcerer jumped to his feet waving his arms.

"Hmm," The king responded, a little unsure, "we'll stay, but let me send word to Zetsu first, he and Tobi should know what's going on. Hidan, you go,"

"Aw, why the fuck do I have to tell the freaks,"

"Black knight are you arguing with your king?" Konan spoke in a sing song voice. Hidan shut up.

"I'll go right away your majesty," he growled, voice dripping with contempt. The two royals smirked at him as he stormed from the room.

"Uh, perhaps that's not such a good idea," Suigetsu dashed after him, "I'm the only-"

He was cut off as the knight swung the doors open, and all manner of water and lake dwellers began to flood the foyer. The rest of the party shrieked, struggling against the current to shut the door, while Hidan was swept past them. Suigetsu sighed, the only one unperturbed by the water. He swung his staff through the air, and spoke loudly in a language none of them understood. The jewel on the end of his staff glowed, the water halting. He waved the staff again, before slamming its end to the ground. In less time than one could blink the doors were sealed and the water gone.

"Only ones who call the lake house home can find it. Only ones who call the lake house home will be able to remember it, and finally, only those who call the lake house home may open its doors!" Suigetsu recited at them. "I'll send word to your wizard, but please don't try that again."

The knights nodded at him, Deidara and Itachi were wringing the water from their long hair. How had the boy remained dry while the rest of them were soaked through? It was so unfair.

* * *

"Ooh! What's that?" Tobi pointed to the note that had materialised in Zetsu's hand. The wizard glanced over the parchment as inky words sprang forth onto the page, appearing and fading as he read each sentence.

"_Hey plant boy. Your friends are staying here for the night. The king says you and the fool should set up your own camp out there. And make sure it's where ma can't see you. She should come back during the night and if you dare fulfil the prophecy before time I'll personally see to it your passage to hell is not a pleasant one.  
Suigetsu"_

Zetsu shook his head at the message. The young sorcerer was so overprotective.

"That boy is a weird one sir," the jester dared to venture. The bells on his hat tinkled merrily as he read over the other's shoulder.

"**Weird is an understatement, the little psycho**. However he's also a very skilled magician like myself, so do be careful around him, okay?" Zetsu stood from his spot and began unpacking a tent from one of the saddlebags. The horses (and the donkey) were already tied securely to the trees. Like the king had said, they may as well set up camp.


End file.
